


Significant Others

by madeof_it



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-26
Updated: 2014-06-26
Packaged: 2018-02-06 09:13:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1852597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madeof_it/pseuds/madeof_it
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pansy and Cormac are roommates and working at the Ministry together and then something more?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Significant Others

She stomped into the room, her black robes flying behind her.

"MCLAGGEN. WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT USING MY HAIR SERUM?"

He froze, fingertips of one hand dipped into the gold-emblazoned jar, the other smoothing said hair serum into his golden curls.

"Er. You said not to. But this is an EMERGENCY." he whined.

Pansy harrumphed. "What could possibly constitute a hair emergency?" Her arms were folded across her chest and he tried not to notice the attractive pout of her full lips.

"My dad. He's going to be at the Ministry dinner tonight and he gets very...judgemental about my appearances." He shrugged, trying not to look as panicked as he felt.

She must've noticed, though, because her shoulders loosened and she sighed, walking over to where he was seated.

"If you're going to use the rest of it, you owe me a new jar. And don't be a prick, that's not how you apply it." Pansy smoothed her thin fingers over his hair, fixing his hair in a way he hadn't thought to (but which looked very nice). When she finished, they both stood in front of the mirror, her hands still on his shoulders and their eyes meeting in the glass. 

He sneezed suddenly, throwing his head forward and smashing his face on the vanity he sat at. A surprised guffaw escaped Pansy's lips and she slapped her hand over her mouth as if embarrassed by the sound. Cormac just laughed, rubbing a hand over his forehead. The moment, whatever it was, was gone.

~~~~

Theirs was a meeting of chance, both of them choosing careers in the Department of Magical Games and Sports at the Ministry of Magic after their graduations from Hogwarts. Cormac had been with the World Cup Planning Committee program for a year already by the time Pansy had entered, and all committee members without families were expected to live in the dorm-like flats provided -- for ease of access during late-night planning meetings, and because the World Cup was a BIG DEAL and much like a four-year-long bootcamp. Committee members were selected for upcoming World Cups before the World Cup for that year was even finished, and an increase in popularity after the war meant that the work-sponsored flats were limited. As such, Pansy and Cormac were forced into sharing a two bedroom flat, and while they had mostly ignored each other at the beginning, a few months of forced cohabitation could thaw even the most frigid of acquaintances.

Cormac was beginning to realize that his feelings towards Pansy were anything BUT of the subzero type.

~~~

"Stop fussing with your hair, it looks perfect and you're about to fuck it up," she hissed into his ear as they stepped into the ballroom.

It was another night of fundraising, and everyone on the committee was expected to schmooze and booze the many wealthy guests that appeared. Unfortunately for Cormac, this meant his parents were present, and he wasn't sure how to interact with them outside of their normal family dynamics. 

Mr. McLaggen approached, his nose wrinkling a bit at the sight of Cormac. Cormac managed to straighten his shoulders instead of deflating as his father looked him up and down.

"Father," he greeted the older man formally, Pansy standing off to the side a bit.  
"Cormac. You're looking well, I suppose. You couldn't have spell-shone your shoes a bit better? And you're alone? You couldn't have recruited any young bird to accompany you?" Mr. McLaggen frowned.

From where she was standing, Pansy rolled her eyes at the condescending attitude of yet ANOTHER old father creating insecurities in his son and cast a quick spell. Within a blink of an eye Cormac's shoes were sparkling. He had opened his mouth to respond to his father, and before he could say anything she sidled up next to him, weaving an arm through his and interlacing their fingers, bumping his hip lightly with hers.

"There you are, darling, I thought I'd lost you in this dreadfully boring crowd of old wizards." she smiled at him, practically _simpering_ , and Cormac's heart thudded in his chest at the sight of her pearly white teeth. He was never more GRATEFUL to somebody than in this moment when Mr. McLaggen seemed intent on embarrassing him in front of his peers and colleagues.

"Father, this is Pansy." He paused. "Pansy is my--"  
"--Significant other," she interrupted. "Girlfriend sounds _terribly_ immature, and what we share is ever so much more meaningful than a schoolgirl dalliance, wouldn't you say?"

Mr. McLaggen raised an eyebrow.

"And you must be Cormac's father! I've heard so much about you. I hope you're well, Cormac mentioned your accident while playing Swivenhodge?"

Pansy took his father's arm, leading him away from Cormac and towards the tables of food with a sly wink in his direction. He sagged with relief, surprised that Pansy had even been listening when he'd talked about his father at all.

~~~

The next day, as he laid in bed sleeping off the after-effects of the firewhiskey from the dinner, he received a Howler from his mother demanding to know why he'd kept his perfectly charming _significant other_ a secret and threatening bodily harm if he and Pansy didn't show up for Sunday brunch in two weekends.

Shit.

~~~

He was still getting dressed, only in his pants and tugging a shirt over his head, when he felt a breeze stalk past him and heard the _whump_ of Pansy landing on his bed. His face flushed at the scandalous direction of his traitorous mind beneath the cotton fabric and he was glad she couldn't see it.

"OI. PRIVACY? I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING HERE, YOU COULDN'T HAVE WAITED? OR EVEN HAVE KNOCKED?"

She snorted.

"Like I haven't seen anything like this before? Although you are a bit more fit than I was imagining." She said it begrudgingly, like it pained her to compliment him (and with her stone heart, it likely did, he thought to himself). "Anyway, I heard your mum's correspondence and I wanted to let you know that I'm available on that day."

He peered at her through the neckhole of his shirt, a suspicious look grazing his face. "Why would you do that? You did me a favour and I appreciate it, but we can hardly keep this...whatever it is up long term."

"Can't we, though?" she said, piercing green eyes meeting his own as she reclined on his satin sheets, the soft noise of her bare legs against the fabric creating a warm heat in his stomach.

"Parkinson, are you alright? Did you receive more suspicious mail? I taught you the Charm to check before opening. Have you been poisoned again? We should get you to--"

Before he could finish his sentence ( _she is CONSTANTLY interrupting_ flew through his mind), she'd stalked across his bed and grabbed him by the front of his newly-worn shirt.

"I'm only going to say this one time, Cor. You're handsome as fuck but you're MORE than that, and you're suddenly smarter than I remember you ever being at Hogwarts and ten times more charming and infinitely less skeevy. I _like_ having you in my space and sharing this bloody flat with you, and I can think of a few other spaces I'd like to have you in, if you get my meaning."

He gulped as she continued.

"So if it's alright with you, I'd like to take the next two weeks to continue to be each others' significants, and I would like to meet your mum and charm the knickers off of her. And maybe someday, when you stop being such an idiot about what _clearly_ could work between us, I'll let you propose and marry me and we'll have little Parkinson-McLaggens and a gigantic house and throw parties that would make the old aristocracy green with envy."

When she finally stopped talking, Cormac realized that his hands were resting lightly on the curve of her hips and that he felt like his hands had been there for his entire life. He saw the ferocity in her eyes, as if she was daring him to reject her, and he saw a woman that stood up for him to their peers and to his parents when it didn't occur to him to do the same for himself. He saw a future of tripping over her piles of shoes in their bedroom, of sneers and scoffs that covered her own insecurities, of a woman that was -- beyond all else -- a survivalist, and a woman that he may have fallen in love with so slowly over the course of the last few months that he hadn't even noticed it himself.

He grinned. "Alright. Let's have brunch. I'll owl Mother that we'll be there." He reached towards his desk, intending to scribble a note to send off when Pansy tugged him back.

"I daresay we've something else to attend to first," she murmured, sliding her hands around his neck and grasping at his curly blonde hair, finally _finally_ meeting her pouting lips to his and he sighed against her mouth, hands back on her hips where he felt they belonged.


End file.
